Xzin:

I tossed your RFI at my dad and this was his reply ...

Here is a company that builds some interface devices, probably spendy for what your friend wants.
http://www.digitalnetworks.net/devic...ref=serdevserv

Here are some resources for home automation:
http://mail.google.com/mail/?ik=fcfb...=lyx2be-pkj4qk

Google on "Building Automation Systems" and you will find a wealth of information and providers of equipment. Locally, look up Building Automation or environmental controls and you will find local resources.

Now, what your friend may really be looking for: go to http://www.digikey.com This company publishes an electronic catalog for low cost electronic components. They used to sell a line of microprocessor based controllers that could be programed through a pc. It is also an excellent source of cables, connectors, adapters etc. They cover the field from computer technology, communications, batteries, audio, video, etc. They are a component level provider, not much in the way of hardware. They have an on-line catalog as well. I used to buy a large part of my electronic components from them when I worked in broadcast.

I wish I could remember the name of the manufacturer, (Johnson Controlls is a similar company, but more expensive, i think) but I installed a Building Automation System at Parkland - our church in Clovis. The software resided in my desk-top and communicated to the main controller via Ethernet which communicated to all the little controller cards scattered around the building on RS-422 (I think. - single twisted pair) which controlled furnaces, air conditioners, lights, etc. The software was a GUI which gave pictorial representation of system status, etc. and provided user input to the software. Schedules could be easily built and edited. For a small home system built from this hardware, the software becomes the most expensive part: I think it was around $500. The individual interface modules that provided 4 outputs (TRIAC) and included analog and digital inputs ran around $150. Several different modules for different applications were available.